


A Simple Dare

by farfetched



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 05:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8132927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farfetched/pseuds/farfetched
Summary: Dex ends up on a road trip with Nursey, and dares him to stand under a waterfall. It ends differently than either of them would have expected it to.





	

"I dare you to go stand under that waterfall." Will said, and, as Nursey looked at him, one eyebrow raised, he wondered what on earth he was actually doing here. 

He's not sure he ever remembered saying yes at any point. He certainly remembered saying no. He remembered thinking that there was no way he could afford it, and that Nursey was obviously just chirping him even by asking. Why would Derek Malik Nurse, self-proclaimed 'chill dude' and similar to himself only in the fact that they both played hockey and argued frequently, ask William J Poindexter to go on a road trip with him. 

It didn't make sense. It was clearly a more invested chirp, or a prank or something. Obviously, Will had ignored the whole idea as though it had never been mentioned, as seemed sensible. 

Two things happened. 

First, Nursey had not shut up about the idea. He kept mentioning things, place they could go, things he'd heard about that sounded interesting. How they could go technically trespass into the biggest treehouse in America, shut down because it was a fire hazard, but also too awesome to miss, Nursey said. How they could find a massive maize maze and get lost in it for hours. 

Nursey seemed to actually think it was going to happen. Worse, the more Will thought about it, the more he wanted to do it. His first summer after Samwell had been punishingly boring, and he'd realised just how much he'd missed the team. So maybe his sophomore year was filled with a few less innocent thoughts about Derek Nurse. He could get over it, and deal with it for a few extra weeks. It was hardly like they spent that much time apart, anyway. 

But he couldn't afford it. He wasn't going to ask his parents, nor was he going to admit this to anyone, so he just kept saying no, or changing the subject. 

Secondly, he made the mistake of mentioning it to his grandma. 

It had been a total mistake. He'd phoned home, and his grandma had happened to be there at the time, and his mum had put her on the line despite his insistence he had nothing to say. 

Which was the truth. He didn't. So he ended up blurting out about the possible trip and how he wanted to go but couldn't and... 

In short, she'd given him some money to use for the trip, and managed - somehow - to contact Nursey. 

Sometimes, Will was terrified of his grandma. He didn't even think he'd mentioned it was Nursey he was planning on going with. The number he vaguely recalled that his parents might have requested at a family weekend if 'Billy was ever in trouble'. 

That was when he learnt silence was the best technique to really freak Nursey out, but he digresses. 

He'd known nothing of this contact until Nursey had nearly crashed into him at the library, distinctly not chill, and asked if it was true, if he could go. 

Will had blinked at him, connected things together, and put his face in his hands. His meddling family. 

But in any case, Nursey had been happy enough with him finally being able to go that Will hadn't the heart to say no as he had been going to, and it eventually conspired to this situation. 

The two of them on a road trip. His parents had been all for it, saying he should discover the place while he was still young, and his grandma had told him to make good memories. 

Somehow, he suspected their ideas of 'good memories', specifically who they'd be with, differed somewhat, but he wasn't about to tell her that, not before the trip. He could not face the humiliation if he suddenly couldn't go, because short of a family disaster, he wasn't actually sure Nursey could be persuaded otherwise. He'd seemed strangely set on not only going, but going with him. 

So they'd snuck into the biggest treehouse in America, and roamed its vast expanses, even ending up playing cards with a few local kids in one of the rooms, losing horrifically to their cheating tactics. They'd gotten well and truly lost in a corn maze, only getting out by Will getting so annoyed with it he'd crashed through the walls in the vague direction of the centre. They'd seen all sorts of things, gone all sorts of places; they were currently visiting a waterfall it was possible to walk behind, and there was a spot where someone could stand to be under a weaker off-shoot of the main thing, and Will didn't know why he'd suggested it. 

It was stupid, really. Saying 'dare' to most people was a bad idea, but particularly to competitive people, and Nursey, after a long moment, grinned. 

"Alright, Poindexter." He said, pausing before he removed his phone from his pocket. The screen was already broken, from where he'd dropped it on a rock two states ago, and barely functioning as it was, but despite his riches, Nursey seemed reluctant to get a new one until they'd finished the trip. He held it out to Will, who eyed it curiously. "I'm not getting that broken." He explained, looked down at it, and cracked a smile. "More broken." 

Will took it, and shoved it into his jeans, along with his own phone, money, and the keys to the car. Nursey watched him do it, before grinning and turning tail, strolling confidently towards the spot. 

The wind gusted in their direction. They both got sprayed with mist off the waterfall, and the spot he'd dared Nursey to stand on got totally drenched. 

They both paused, but it passed fast, and he wordlessly raised his eyebrows when Nursey peered back, as if he was going to retract it. 

He wasn't. He wasn't sure why the thought amused him. Maybe it was just seeing what Nursey would do until he'd back down, how far they could push each other. They'd been daring each other to do harmless, stupid things all throughout the trip. 

Looking at it again, he supposed it might not be the best idea in the world, but it was fine. He'd seen other people do the same thing. 

"You'll be fine." He shouted, Nursey seeming hesitant, but apparently not enough to actually try to fight it. Turning around, he resolutely stepped forwards until he was in the right place. 

He swivelled back around, presumably to gloat, when the wind gusted again, the waterfall sweeping over him. 

Nursey was drenched within seconds, his hair plastered against his scalp, his front only dry by virtue of the wind direction. 

"Fuck that's cold!" He yelped, jolting towards Will again, holding his head. "Fuck that hurts! Fuck you Poindexter, fuck you." 

Will could not help but laugh. He looked so stupid, water dripping off his nose, his sunglasses covered in droplets and barely hanging on where they'd been on his head, askew, and nearly pouting at him. He looked ridiculous, and Will told him so. 

Before he quite knew what was happening, Nursey had grabbed his hand and dragged him over. A shock of water pelting onto him broke him out of his laughter, screwing his eyes shut as it slammed into him, cold and painful and distinctly refreshing. Oddly enough, it wasn't unpleasant, although he knew he ought to move out the way. 

It felt stupid to do, but fun. It didn't matter if Nursey had forced him- 

Nursey. 

Who was still holding his hand. 

The force lessened to a mist as Will's eyes sprung open, staring straight at Nursey, standing close to him, brown eyes soft and full of laughter. Will felt his heart jump, but he was helpless to do anything, not move forwards or back. 

Nursey murmured something, quiet enough that he couldn't hear it over the roar of the water. But it brought his eyes down to his lips, and he was suddenly sure Nursey had whispered his name. The hand around Will's tightened, a flood of heat going to his whole body, combatting the fine chill of the mist and the wind on his soaked clothes. 

Nursey leant closer. 

Will did not stop him. 

He leant closer still, scant centimetres away, in his eyes a question only Will could answer. 

Will did not stop him. Will only knew how to say yes without words. 

It was impossible to tell which of them had actually instigated it, nor did he really care; all he knew was fire in the body next to his, and relief, because just how long had he wanted this. 

He murmured a single 'oh', at the realisation, at the sheer insanity of it, and wondered if he was dreaming. 

Wondered if it was sadistic to think that if he was, he didn't want to wake up. 

And then he heard someone yell at them. It must have been at them. 

"Get a room! You're ruining my shot!" 

Eyes springing open, he broke away, backing away swiftly. He couldn't even look at Nursey, such was his embarrassment. He couldn't believe he'd done that. He'd forgotten anyone else existed, forgotten everything, and he was sodden and could not stay there, watched by the various other tourists, whispering about him, them. 

Murmuring an apology to them, he turned and walked as fast as he could, away from the waterfall, across the car park, and into the car. Their phones were soaked. He didn't have the energy to care about it, throwing them in the back along with his wallet. 

He put his head in his hands, blushing immensely but unable to stop himself smiling. 

What had he _done_? What _had_ he done? _What had he done_?

He'd just kissed Nursey. Nursey had just kissed him. In front of people. Even if they didn't know either of them, it still happened. People out there knew. Will wasn't ready for people to know, to make assumptions about him, to make judgements. 

But Nursey had kissed him. Did that mean anything? Was he dreaming? Was it a spectacularly cruel dream his brain had conjured, and he'd wake up alone in the Poindexter household, none of this having happened? 

He didn't think he could stand it, but he didn't think it was. His heart was still racing, his lips hadn't stop curling up into an infuriating smile because _he had just kissed Derek Nurse_. The embarrassment was nearly a physical weight on him, and his brain was a mess. He was still soaked from head to foot, cold as anything, and he'd regret sitting here soon, but he'd not been thinking. He tried to get his breathing under control. 

At the sound of the door opening, he looked up, finding Nursey, looking angry. 

_What had he done what had he done what had he done?_

Nursey crashed into the passenger seat, distinctly upset, and Will frowned at him. This seemed to set him off, speaking before Will could. 

"Sorry, okay? You could have said something before you just legged it. Am I supposed to hitch a ride back now?" Nursey ranted, and Will suddenly realised what Nursey thought he'd done. He couldn't blame him, considering it definitely looked like he'd run away because of the kiss itself. He felt like burying his face in his hands, but felt that might force Nursey back out the car, so he tried to speak it through rationally. 

"Nursey-"   
"No, Poindexter! Fuck you. And not in a good way. It's bullshit. You could have given me an answer, instead of just running away-" 

"Nursey!" He tried again.   
"But no, now I look like a creep to a load of tourists and I have to leave too because they all think it was forced or some bullshit like that, and that is totally not chill, Dex-" 

"Derek!" 

It actually seemed to work, although whether that was the tone, or the rare use of his first name, Will wasn't sure. It did make him look at him, first in surprise, then with his eyes narrowed, unimpressed. Will felt his nerves return, but how could he possibly have misconstrued that behaviour?   
"I'm sorry. But you're wrong." He said. When Nursey looked like he was about to object, Will did the first thing that came to mind and slammed a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. This, too, seemed to stun him into silence, because he didn't even try to fight it. "No, listen. This is... new. But I don't like PDA, no matter who is doing it. It's not- not _what_ we did that I object to, it was the location." He finished, pulling his hand away, and turning to face out the window, his face burning red with embarrassment. 

There was a long moment of silence, in which Will imagined all the ways Nursey was about to blow up, leave, get annoyed, or hate him. 

"So you ran away because...?" Nursey prompted. Will couldn't face looking at him. 

"Because people were watching." He muttered, feeling stupid. He wasn't shy, necessarily, and nor was he ashamed of how he felt, nor who towards. He just didn't like people watching things like that. It was private. He didn't like seeing other people get overly soppy and affectionate in public, and the same applied to other people seeing him. 

"Not because we kissed?" Nursey questioned, barely more than a whisper. Will turned to him, his face bright red he was sure, and wondered how in heck he'd ever gotten to such a position. 

"No! I... It's something I've wanted for a while." He mumbled, not quite able to look Nursey in the eye, but not wanting to be turned away from him. His eyes were drawn to his tattoo, ringed around his arm, the intricate patterns looping around, a bead of water dripping down over it. 

Nursey laughed, and then-   
"We're both idiots." He said, grinning. Will glanced up at him, their gazes locking, and he felt a thrill of warmth go through him, and his lips curve up into a hopeful smile. "So if I were to repeat that now, sans water and people... Or is the car not private enough?" 

Will wasn't entirely sure whether it was a chirp or an actual question. He answered it regardless. 

"Up to a point, it's fine." He replied, and watched as Nursey brightened, looked pleased. 

"Then what are you waiting for?" He murmured, leaning in closer. Will couldn't help but snort.   
"You." But he curled a hand around Nursey's neck, as though he had experience of this, as if his first proper kiss hadn't been ten minutes ago under a waterfall. Like hell he'd be telling Nursey that though; Will wasn't convinced he could stand the chirping. 

Although he wasn't sure he'd care so much if he could rely on this method of shutting his teammate up. 

It was an odd mix of relief and elation that went through him. It just felt so right, like he'd been waiting a long time for this - and maybe he had. Maybe their fighting at the start of freshman year was part of this, leading up to it, maybe it had been him subconsciously fighting it. It felt instinctual now though, and he ignored the part of his brain worrying about what people looking in the car would think, what his family would think when they found out, the team, where they even went from here. 

He just focused on the sensation, of actually getting to live his dreams, of how it was so much better, even as the stick-shift prodded into his side, how he was still sodden from their impromptu trip into the waterfall. 

A phone rang in the backseat, and they sprung apart. Nursey, still grinning, reached back to get it, and then seemed to process it. 

"Oh, shit! I totally forgot you had our- Will?" 

He couldn't help it. They were both so stupid, and he was so happy at the turn of events, he couldn't even quite manage to be annoyed at the prospect of losing his phone to water damage. He just started laughing, and Nursey joined him after a moment, caught up in it. 

Still, the phone buzzed again; Nursey's, surprisingly enough, which bode well for Will's phone. Peering at the message, he chuckled. 

"Chowder wants to know if we're dead yet. Like, killed each other." He said, and Will just grinned.   
"Let's keep him guessing. We done here? We've got a few miles to do, we should keep moving." He suggested, and Nursey nodded, locking the phone again and putting it in the door pocket while Will started the car and backed out, quickly getting back onto open road. 

He wasn't quite sure what he was hoping for when he left his hand loosely draped onto the gear stick, but he grinned when Nursey grabbed it, and glanced across at him. 

"This okay?" He questioned. Will nodded, letting their fingers loosely intertwine, such that whenever he did change gear, it felt like they did it together. 

It was more than okay to him. He thought he'd be quite happy to let that road stretch on forever, but then, if it did, he'd never get to do anything else with Nursey.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really enjoying Check Please and writing about these hockey players, so I thought I might post some of it! Not beta'd, so please point out any mistakes you see and I'll try and fix them. Thank you for reading! 
> 
> This was inspired by a trip to Iceland, to Sejlandsfoss, a waterfall you can walk behind. There's a bit where you can stand which sometimes gets blasted with water, and although not brave enough to stand there myself, I could imagine someone else doing it, and deep in my OMGCP phase, I imagined these two and this was born. 
> 
> Also posted on tumblr, here: http://silverliningslurk.tumblr.com/post/150911743181/a-simple-dare


End file.
